Big Bang Disruption

Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation

“

Everything you need from business school in one very direct book. Big Bang Disruption elegantly and simply identifies why innovation happens in some new companies and how you can embrace and harness this new way of thinking.

12 Rules of Big Bang Disruption

THE SINGULARITY

Find industry visionaries who see the future more clearly than you do, and who won't sugar-coat it even when you want them to.

2) Pinpoint your market entry

Learn to separate the little bumps from the Big Bangs, choosing just the perfect moment to enter a new ecosystem.

3) Launch seemingly random experiments

Practice combinatorial innovation directly in the market, collaborating with suppliers, customers, and investors—who may be one and the same.

THE BIG BANG

4) Survive catastrophic success

Prepare to scale up from experiment to global brand in the space of months, if not weeks, and to redesign your technical and business architecture even while running at full speed.

5) Capture winner-take-all markets

Sacrifice everything, including short-term profits, to ensure victory in winner-take-all markets, especially when success with one disruptor can be leveraged into follow-on products that can be created and launched even faster than the original.

6) Create bullet time

Judiciously employ litigation and legislation to slow the progress of disruptors, even as you proceed with your own experiments, partnerships, and well-timed acquisitions.

THE BIG CRUNCH

7) Anticipate saturation

When consumers adopt and then abandon new products and services all at once, it's essential not to be caught with excess capacity or inventory.

8) Shed assets before they become liabilities

Knowing the right time to sell, and to whom, can mean the difference between your ability to develop the next disruptor and bankruptcy.

9) Quit while you're ahead

Courageous executives accept the inevitable, and announce their exit from current markets while they are still strong.

ENTROPY

10) Escape your own black hole

Beware the deadly legacy of your older products and services once better and cheaper alternatives are readily available.

11) Become someone else's components

As humbling as the idea may sound, companies trapped in Entropy often find their best hope is to shut down retail business and transform into a supplier of parts and other resources for innovators in markets emerging elsewhere.

12) Move to a new singularity

Co-opt the tools of the disruptors and their investors, and use them to relocate your remaining assets to a healthier ecosystem.

Meet the Authors

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Meet the Authors

Larry Downes and Paul Nunes are the co-authors of “Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of
Devastating Innovation.”

Larry Downes

Larry Downes is an Internet industry analyst and author on the impact of disruptive technologies on business and policy. His first book, “Unleashing the Killer App,” was one of the biggest business bestsellers of the early 2000s. He is a columnist for Forbes and CNET.com, and writes regularly for other publications including USA Today and the Harvard Business Review. He lives in Berkeley, CA.

Paul Nunes

Paul Nunes is the Global Managing Director of Research at the Accenture Institute for High Performance, and the Senior Contributing Editor at Outlook, Accenture's journal of thought leadership. His most recent book is “Jumping the S-Curve.” His research findings have been covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Forbes. He lives in Boston, MA.

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Where do you see disruptive innovation? Join the #bigbangdisruption conversation.

Big Bang Wisdom

Accolades for Big Bang Disruption

Praise for Big Bang Disruption

“

Everything you need from business school in one very direct book. Big Bang Disruption elegantly and simply identifies why innovation happens in some new companies and how you can embrace and harness this new way of thinking.”

- Dick Costolo,CEO, Twitter

“

Everyone has heard of the Innovator's Dilemma, but this book is about the Innovator's Nightmare. What should you do if your business is disrupted virtually overnight? Reading this book is the best action you can take to fend off a Big Bang Disruption.”

- Hal Varian,Chief Economist, Google

“

A fascinating insight. Read this book quickly because the rules of the innovation game change overnight in this brave new world set out by the authors.”

- Paul Polman,CEO, Unilever

“

Big bangs are everywhere and are happening faster each year and with bigger impact. People in every industry would be well advised to follow the unconventional strategies outlined in this book. Big Bang Disruption got my company energized to innovate ahead of the curve and drive change rather than become victims.”

- Kandy Anand,President and CEO, Molson Coors International

“

As Jaws was to summer blockbusters, Big Bang Disruption is to business cycles; it presents a playbook for new opportunities and new dangers. It's also as scary as Jaws but it's better to know what everyone else will soon see than to bury one's head in the sand and pretend these disruptors don't exist..”

- Blair Levin,Communications and Society Fellow, Aspen Institute

“

People think in straight lines and are surprised when there is a sharp takeoff. Larry Downes and Paul Nunes teach us to anticipate exponential growth and think outside the line and onto the curve. Their observations on life and business are seminal for the way we work and live.”

- Andy Lippman,Associate Director, MIT Media Lab

“

Wow! Big Bang Disruption beautifully captures how technology has changed the speed and cycle of innovation. It is a primer on dizzying change in many industries and a strategy manual for any entrepreneur or CEO who must understand disruptive innovation to survive and prosper. A compelling must-read!”

- Gary Shapiro,President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association

“

With informative graphics, the authors deliver a groundbreaking outline for dealing with the inevitable increase in business disruptions caused by new technology.”

- KIRKUS REVIEWS,Business and Economics

“

Big Bang Disruption should be required reading for anyone attempting to launch a business or stay in business in the face of digitally enabled competition…”

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